Swedish Neo-Nazi March On Yom Kippur Ordered To Stay Away From Synagogue
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — A court in Sweden has rerouted a neo-Nazi march on Yom Kippur farther away from a synagogue.
The Gothenburg administrative court ruling concerning the Sept. 30 march by the far-right Nordic Resistance Movement overrode the suggested route by police. The court also shortened the route.
The group had initially wanted to march on the main streets of Gothenburg, but the police offered an alternate route taking demonstrators only about 200 yards from the main synagogue in Sweden’s second largest city.
An outraged Jewish community appealed the police decision earlier this month along with several other groups. The Anti-Defamation League and the World Jewish Congress were among others to protest.
Among other factors, the court said it considered the fact that the route would have passed near the synagogue on the Jewish holiday and the demonstration would fall during the Gothenburg Book Fair, when some 100,000 people are expected to gather in the city for the largest literary festival in Scandinavia.
Swedish Jewish leaders cautiously praised the decision.
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